The Dark Lord's Demise

by John White

  Kurt said, "And for the food, baths, clothes, fire in the fireplace, and-I don't remember what all else. Oh, yeah, and for Philo and Vulcanus."

  Silence filled the room a moment. The fire hissed and cracked. They half-wished the Shepherd would say something but were half-afraid to hear his voice. Lisa thought again of the dungeon where she told Betty that Gaal was always with them. She asked, "Gaal, could you please talk some sense into Betty?"

  "That isn't a thanks," Kurt pointed out.

  "I know, but if anybody is going to help her, it'll have to be him. That queen's got her in her clutches. I tried to help her, I really did, but she wouldn't listen to me and-"

  Wes put a hand on Lisa's arm. "Hey, hold it. You did your best. But I do think it's okay to ask Gaal to take care of Betty. And while we're at it, Gaal, could you help Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor get along better?"

  "Wes! They're in Winnipeg!" Kurt sputtered.

  "So?"

  "So Gaal's not in Winnipeg! He can't do anything for Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor!" Kurt's statement hung in the air a long moment. Then Kurt added, "Can he?"

  Philo stomped a hoof and rustled his hay. Lisa said, "I don't know, Kurt. I have a feeling. . ." She left her sentence unfinished.

  They got up from the meal, stretched, considered sitting by the fire a while but decided to turn in. Wes blew out the oil lamp, and the boys went upstairs to bed. Lisa went to the stable corner to say good night to Philo. She patted the black snip on his nose and said, "Thanks for offering to carry all three of us today."

  "I heard you talking to the Lord Gaal," the horse said. "I am glad that you know him."

  "Do you know Gaal?" Lisa asked.

  Philo shook his mane in amazement. "Of course. All animals know Gaal. Especially horses. We are his special favorites."

  "You think so, do you? Say, could you-I mean, if he's here in this room, did you-" Lisa glanced toward the fireplace, which was the only light in the room. Deep shadows hid most of the chairs and divans. "Never mind. I was just curious if you can see him all the time." Philo turned big dark eyes on her but did not answer.

  "You know, you remind me of a horse I once knew here in Anthropos," Lisa said. "He was white like you, but-well, let's say there were differences. His name was Theophilus."

  Philo shied and pinned back his ears. "Lady Lisa, how do you come to know that name? Never mind. It is mere coincidence. Unless ... would you know this horse's full name?"

  "Yes. I'll try not to laugh. It was ... Theophilus Gorgonzola Roquefort de Limburger V." She dissolved in a fit of giggles. She stifled it when she saw Philo's reaction. His head drooped so low, the black snip on his nose almost touched the straw on the floor.

  "Alas, I must confess to an unfortunate and shameful portion of my pedigree. There is it streak of insanity in my family. This Theophilus of whom you speak was an ancestor of mine. I like to think he was not a direct ancestor, perhaps a distant cousin. I understand he had the foolish idea that he could-that he

  Lisa was sure Philo would have covered his face with his hooves if he could have done so. She couldn't wait to put his horsy mind at ease. "Oh, Philo, Theophilus could fly! I've ridden on his back. He was marvelous. That is, when he didn't take off in all directions he wasn't supposed to go. He could be scatterbrained, but he had a good heart, and he was fast and strong. And brave! Once he flew straight through an attack of the Qadar. Well, that was his fault. He was way off course."

  The horse's ears worked back and forth. "Is this true?"

  "Of course it's true! I'll tell you more later. Now I have to go to bed and so do you."

  "If you don't mind, Lady Lisa, could you scratch my back first? There is not room to roll here, and my back is so itchy."

  Lisa obliged. The strange growths on the horse's back were larger than ever. She stared at them and a new thought carne into her mind. But she was too tired to figure it out now. She went upstairs and left Philo to ponder his ancestry.

  "Kurt! Lisa! Wake up! Look at this!"

  Wes's voice in the downstairs room jolted his brother and sister from sleep. They pulled on their clothes, stumbled into each other in the upstairs hall and made it down the stairway without falling. "What's wrong?" Kurt asked as he rubbed his eyes.

  Wes stood by the window that faced the clearing. He explained, "I woke up early and came downstairs to see if there was food. I looked out the window and-" He pointed.

  "More soldiers?" Lisa asked anxiously. She and Kurt crowded close to the window. They expected to see some new threat: more men with swords, goblins, swarms of weaver bees, perhaps even Queen Hisschi herself. They never expected to see what passed by a few yards from their tree.

  The priest Hazilon, whom they had met in the royal council chamber, strode along the stone pathway in the direction of Lake Nachash. He carried a pole from which a long banner streamed and snapped. The dark-blue banner was woven with a design of gold. It waved so the design was hard to see, but it looked like some sort of building.

  The priest was not alone. Behind him in an uneven line walked several other people. More and more figures emerged from the woods and spread out across the clearing so that they no longer walked in a line but in a mass. They were of all ages, and they were not only Regenskind. Among them trotted Koach whose coats of white, gray or black glistened in the morning sun. Among the crowd were also Marmon (because of their small stature, they were harder to spot). Many of the walkers conversed with excited hand gestures and animated expressions, though the children could not hear what they said. A few people snatched wildflowers. Most took no time for that. These walkers were not out for a casual stroll. They were on their way somewhere important and could waste no time.

  One man near the edge of the group pointed to the top of the Gaal tree and said something. A few other people looked where he pointed. "They must see Vulcanus," said Wes. Then he cried, "It's the old prisoner! Charaban!"

  The man still looked up at the tree. They saw his face clearly. In the hall of inquiry he had been either furious or in despair. Now his face glowed with joy. Lisa recalled that he had been a captain in King Kardia's army. She could believe it. His shoulders were back, and his bearing was that of a soldier-slowed down by age and a limp, but still on the march.

  "I wonder why they let him out of prison. I thought we'd never see him again! Wait, maybe this is a group of prisoners. They're being marched to another prison or something. But why do they all look so happy?"

  "And why is the priest leading them?" Kurt wondered. "Hey, there's Eminy! The serving girl from the palace!" He started to wave but stopped himself. She couldn't see him, and even if she could, it would not be wise to attract attention.

  Emmy stepped quickly along the stone path. Gone was all her anxiety and fear. She gazed at the sky as though she expected something definite there. Then she turned and motioned with her arm in a gesture that said, "Come on! Hurry up!" Two younger girls followed her out of the woods. Like Emmy, they were dressed in the plain clothing of servants.

  "I'll bet that's the two girls the queen jailed for stealing," Kurt said. "The ones Emmy said were innocent."

  "Yeah," Wes said. "She said they were only jailed because they believed the true way about. . ." His voice trailed off. The children looked at each other. Kurt finished Wes's sentence. "Because they believed the true way about Gaal. And Charaban said exactly the same thing. He said they singled him out because he worshiped Gaal."

  "And Emmy said that Hazilon told her about the queen's lies," Lisa added. "And now here's Hazilon himself, leading all this crowd! This is a bunch of true followers of Gaal!"

  "They're sure on their way somewhere! But where?" Kurt pressed his face up against the window. "Are Ildreth and Shamith out there? The king's beekeepers? I doubt it."

  "I doubt if the Commander is there either," Wes said cynically.

  For several minutes they watched the parade of believers cross the clearing. Now and then they pointed out a familiar face. Wes said, "Hey, I think I see
some of the young guards from the hall of inquiry. They've got those dark uniforms on. But they don't have their swords."

  "I think I see some of the prisoners too," Kurt commented. "It was so dark in there, I'm not sure. Hey, there are kids too! Is it the abandoned ones from the room where we were?"

  Wes squinted. "I think it's some of them. Oh gosh, yes, there's the boy who was scared and crying. He sure looks happy now."

  "That silvery gray Koach there-is that Swiftlope?" Lisa asked. "He's the right color, but now he looks like a real wolf. Not like a big puppy dog."

  The crowd moved across the clearing in a long wave. They thinned out to a few stragglers. When the last of them disappeared into the woods, the sunny clearing looked empty and forlorn.

  Kurt turned from the window. His eyes shone. "Let's go with them!" he said.

  Wes shook his head. "Gaal hasn't told us anything about it."

  "But Wes, those were Gaal's followers. We don't need special instructions to go with them."

  "I don't think so, Kurt."

  Frustrated, Kurt asked Lisa, "Don't you think we should follow? We don't need to have it written across the sky. Just seeing them should be enough."

  "Well, we don't know for sure what it means," Lisa replied. "It could be a trick. I wish we could have heard what they were talking about. Say, what about Vulcanus? He was in the top of the tree. He must have heard them."

  Cautiously (more cautiously than Kurt liked) they went outside. No one could miss the fact that a large crowd had trooped by. For yards on either side of the stone pathway, the long yellow grass was trampled flat. Wes walked out to where he could see the top of the oak. He expected to see Vulcanus on the top branch. But the bird was not there. "Probably hunting mice," Wes muttered. They waited and scanned the sky, but the bird did not show up.

  Vulcanus's disappearance gave Kurt new ammunition. "See?" He said with more than a touch of gloat. "He went with them. What else would you expect him to do?"

  Wes exploded. "You don't know that! Maybe he went back to Nephesh! Maybe he flew ahead to the lake to do reconnaissance! Maybe he packed his bags and went on a buzzard holiday! We're not going anywhere until we know Gaal wants us to!"

  Philo stuck his big head out the door of the tree. Very politely he said, "Excuse me, may I be of assistance?" His presence made the Gaal tree look like a barn. Lisa said, "Philo! You spotted the soldiers last night. Why didn't you get all excited about the parade?"

  "I have been in far too many parades. They are rather pointless. Besides, this one had no horses."

  In a sarcastic tone Lisa said, "Yeah, and since horses are Gaal's special favorite, this parade must not have been a real Gaal parade, right? Never mind. That was your ego talking."

  "My eagle?"

  "Ego. Your pride."

  "Young lady, I am a humble horse."

  "I think we should go," Kurt fumed. "Now. Otherwise we'll never catch up with them. Come on, let's get our stuff." He squeezed past Philo and reentered the tree.

  Wes gazed toward the woods where the company had disappeared. He looked at Lisa and shook his head. "It's not right," he said.

  "I think I agree with you," Lisa answered. "But let's see if we can get Kurt to sit down a minute so we can talk about it."

  They stepped back inside the tree. The scent of hot buttered biscuits and ham nearly made their knees buckle as they walked in. Lisa breathed in deeply and said, "Mmmmmm!" Wes did the same but cut it short when he saw Kurt already seated at the table with a biscuit in his mouth.

  Wes laughed. "Well, Kurt, I thought you were all ready to hit the trail!"

  "Gta eat frst," Kurt mumbled.

  Lisa sat down at the table and picked up a biscuit. She said, "You'll have to excuse Kurt. He talks with his mouth full. The result of constant grazing." She bit into a biscuit.

  Wes joined them at the table. "I think you have to agree, Kurt, that if Gaal wanted us to run and follow that group-"

  "-he wouldn't have provided breakfast. I know." Kurt had swallowed his first installment of food. He had also swallowed his pride. After they worked their way through several biscuits and generous portions of ham, Philo whinnied, "The bird is back!"

  For the second time that day, the view from the window surprised them. They expected to see the big dark form of Vulcanus. For a moment they saw no bird at all. Then they spotted the white pigeon, which fluttered and hopped on the trampled grass by the stone pathway.

  "I told you so!" Kurt whooped. "Let's go!"

  "We don't know yet which way it wants us to go," Wes cautioned. But all three children were already on their way to fetch their backpacks. The panniers still lay where Lisa had tossed them the night before They decided to abandon their backpacks and let the horse carry everything. He readily agreed. They packed up the remains of the biscuits and ham and put on their shoes. Wes gathered up the panniers and told Philo, "Come on. We have to put them on you outdoors."

  Lisa took a last look around. She breathed, "Thanks, Gaal. Maybe next time it really will be the Bayith of Yayin." As soon as she stepped outside, the door closed up. The Gaal tree again looked like an ordinary oak.

  The pigeon fluttered off along the stone pathway in the direction the crowd had gone, and they followed. In the woods the recent march was very evident. The stone pathway showed no footprints, but broken brush lined the path on either side. It gave the children it wider walkway. They made good time, the pigeon always a short way ahead. Now and then the bird stopped and turned to cock its head and study them. Then it fluttered on, making no sound.

  Soon they approached a place where the trail divided. The stone pathway continued straight ahead. The Friesens knew that it led directly to Lake Nachash. But the trampled trail, where the party led by Hazilon had gone, turned right onto another pathway of grass and dirt rather than stone.

  "Which way do we go?" Kurt asked as the pigeon reached the fork in the trail. Wes inwardly cheered that Kurt hadn't announced which way they should go. They stopped and kept their eyes on the small bird. With no hesitation, it ignored the trampled route and continued straight on down the stone pathway.

  "That settles that," Lisa said. "Looks like we go to the northern shore of the lake after all. But where did they go? Do you think they made a wrong turn?"

  Wes thought about her question. "No, I don't think so. I think they're going where we were going. Around the western end of the lake, to the royal lodge. But why?"

  "Tiqvah might be meeting them there," Kurt guessed. "I still think he's a true follower of Gaal in his heart. One thing you can bet-Queen Hisschi won't be there!"

  "Uh-oh, I just thought of something else," Lisa said. "The company of soldiers that searched for us in the clearing. Vulcanus tricked them into going on. Which way did they go?"

  Suddenly the way ahead looked darker and less certain. Still the pigeon continued its hopping, fluttering guidance. They stood and watched it, unsure. The bird turned back, cocked its head at them and waited.

  "It's not going to tell us which way the soldiers went. It'll only tell us which way we should go. And we already know the answer to that," Wes said.

  The children and the horse continued on down the straight stone pathway.

  It took Lord Lunacy only a few long strides to catch up with Queen Hisschi. In a low voice he asked, "Did you laugh, spirit?"

  "Laugh? When, your majesty?"

  "When I warned Betty Riggs not to covet my authority and power. You know the warning was for you."

  "I did not laugh, my lord. I sniffled. Perhaps I have caught a cold. Do you suggest a spoonful of weaver bee honey?"

  Lunacy's laughter echoed in the courtyard of the island fortress. "I commend you for that scheme, spirit. There may be hope for you after all. Poison in the king's doses of honey. The medicine causes the illness! Tell me again how the idea came to you."

  "Old books of sorcery were here in the fortress ruins. I believe your sorcerer Shagah used the tower for many years. Others took refuge here when
the foul Kardia banished sorcery from the land. I discovered the formula."

  "So the poison in small doses weakens but does not kill. It also makes the subject crave more?"

  "Better than that, my lord." She thought, He does not know everything. More and more I see his ignorance. "This particular poison deceives. It gives strength briefly. Then the effect reverses. It steals far more strength than it gave."

  "And the sufferer discerns only the first effect. He believes it helps him and so consumes more. And in the case of the king, you disguise the poison in one of his favorite foods-honey. He thinks it is the honey itself that strengthens him."

  The queen cringed as several weaver bees dived at her. "Truly the eagles told the truth. The bees have taken up residence here in great numbers. I wish we had Ildreth and Shamith here to control them."

  "I shall bring them here by enchantment in time for the final battle," Lord Lunacy replied. "We shall need their skills in order to spring our trap."

  "Ali, yes. The trap. How goes my lord's strategy? You have told me little."

  "I have told you almost nothing. It is my strategy, not yours. To answer your question, all goes well. Throughout Anthropos the false visions of the Enemy have already appeared to many of his followers. Even now the priest Hazilon leads a company from Nephesh. The deluded followers of the Enemy will assemble to await his great coming. Then we will send our most vicious swarms of weaver bees to threaten them with death. Whether that succeeds or not is trivial. What counts is that the Hated One must come to their rescue. My forces will be in readiness. His forces will be confused-and unarmed. The false images have instructed them not to take weapons."

  "My lord has thought of everything. Or so it seems."

  Lunacy's eyes flashed a cold pale anger. "You doubt my readiness? You doubt my plan?"

  "I doubt your ability to control the weaver bees. How will you insure that they attack only the Hated One's followers and not your own forces?"

  "Have I not told you that my power rests on them? Shall I remove my hand from a dozen or so and let them attack you?"